Degassing apparatus for a fish aquarium or the like

ABSTRACT

Degassing apparatus for a fish aquarium or the like comprising means for feeding the contaminated water from the aquarium to the upper end of the degasser housing, the housing having baffle means for causing the water to flow downwardly therethrough in a zigzag path and in a thinned-out state, until the water reaches a lower chamber, porous means such as an air stone forming the bottom of said lower chamber and defining the top wall of an air chamber located therebeneath, means for introducing air under pressure into said air chamber whereby said air is forced upwardly through the porous means to effect the desired gaseous exchange with the thinned-out water in order to reconstitute same, and means for recycling the reconstituted water back to the aquarium.

United States Patent Pond [4 1 Dec. 18, 1973 DEGASSING APPARATUS FOR AFISH AQUARIUM OR THE LIKE Robert B. Pond, Mansfield, Mass.

Atom Manufacturing Co., Inc., South Attleboro, Mass.

Jan. 21, 1972 Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

US. Cl. 55/206, 210/169 Int. Cl 801d 47/02, E04h 3/20 Field of Search55/52, 53, 196, 199,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1944 Hermes 210/218 8/1967Czulak et al 210/169 12/1958 Dickens et al. 210/63 4/1968 lsomura 55/199ll/l97l Gardner 210/169 3,487,440 12/1969 Newsteder ..210/l69 PrimaryExaminerCharles N. Hart Attorney-Elliot A. Salter et al.

[57] ABSTRACT Degassing apparatus for a fish aquarium or the likecomprising means for feeding the contaminated water from the aquarium tothe upper end of the degasser housing, the housing having bafile meansfor causing the water to flow downwardly therethrough in a zigzag pathand in a thinned-out state, until the water reaches a lower chamber,porous means such as an air stone forming the bottom of said lowerchamber and defining the top wall of an air chamber locatedtherebeneath, means for introducing air under pressure into said airchamber whereby said air is forced upwardly through the porous means toeffect the desired gaseous exchange with the thinned-out water in orderto reconstitute same, and means for recycling the reconstituted waterback to the aquarium.

5 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure l 1 1 l l l l- TI] 45 PATENTEDUECIEHSHS3,778,976

iffffiff DEGASSING APPARATUS FOR A FISH AQUARIUM OR THE LIKE BACKGROUNDAND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a well-known fact that the water in afish aquarium becomes contaminated as a result of the fish waste, whichcontamination takes the form of excessive carbondioxide and ammonia inthe water, thus rendering the water unsafe for fish life. In order toovercome this problem, it has been found desirable to remove thecontaminated water from the fish aquarium and feed it to a degassing orpurifying unit in order to reconstitute the water, after which thereconstituted water is recycled back to the aquarium. It will beunderstood that the cycling of the contaminated water to the degasserwhere it is reconstituted and then back to the aquarium is a continuouscycle, whereby fresh, natural water is always flowing, while at the sametime contaminated water is constantly being removed therefrom.

The problem which has existed has been to provide simple and yeteffective degassing means whereby the contaminated water may be quicklyand yet efficiently reconstituted. This constitutes the basic object ofthe present invention.

The usual technique employed in the purifying or reconstituting ofcontaminated water of this type is to aerate the contaminated water byblowing air therethrough in order to effect a gaseous interchangebetween the air and the contaminated water. More specifically, pursuantto the theory in physics known as the law of partial pressures, whencontaminated water is aerated the gases from the air will exchange withthose in the water to maintain an equilibrium between the gases in theair and those in the water. Thus, by aerating the contaminated water,there is a natural tendency for the contaminated water to again assumethe same gaseous composition as the air being infiltrated, whereby theimpurities in the water, such as CO and ammonia, are removed and arereplaced with oxygen from the air, whereby the water is once againreconstituted to assume its natural state. It has been found, however,that this gaseous interchange takes place only at the water surface; andhence in carrying out the objectives of the present invention, thedegassing apparatus which receives the contaminated water from the fishaquarium is provided with a series of baffles which cause the water toflow downwardly in a zigzag path, and in a very much thinned-out state.This thinning out or stretching of the contaminated water in effectcauses the water to assume a film-like configuration whereby the watersurface is maximixed, thus resulting in more effective gaseousinterchange when air is blown over and through the thinned-out water.

Thus, a primary objective of my invention is the provision of degassingapparatus having means for thinning out or stretching the contaminatedwater so as to maximize the surface area thereof, said apparatus furthercomprising means for blowing air into contact with the thinned-out waterin order to create an effective gaseous interchange which reconstitutesthe water to once again assume a fresh, natural state.

A further object is the provision of apparatus of the characterdescribed that is not only effective in use, but is also extremelysimple and economically feasible to manufacture and operate, and whichmay be readily associated with existing fish aquariums.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered inconnection with the accompanying illustrating drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE schematically shows a fishaquarium in combination with degassing apparatus comprising the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, aconventional fish aquarium illustrated generally at 10 is shown incombination with degassing apparatus comprising the present invention,generally illustrated at 12. The aquarium 10 is of conventionalconstruction and has a supply of water 14 therein, which water in normaluse becomes contaminated as a result of the fish waste, thecontamination most usually taking the form of excessive CO and ammoniain the water. Conduit means 16 are in communication with the water 14adjacent the lower end of aquarium 10, said conduit being associatedwith a pump 18 which causes the contaminated water to continuously flowthrough the conduit 16 to the degassing apparatus 12, which will now bedescribed in detail.

The degassing apparatus 12 comprises a housing defined by front wall 20,rear wall 22, side walls 24, and bottom wall 26. Extending from one sidewall to the other are a plurality of baffle plates 28, 30, 32, 34 and36. More specifically, it will be noted that upper baffle plate 28extends from front wall 20 in a downward inclination, and terminates inspaced relation to rear wall 22. The next lower baffle plate 30 extendsfrom rear wall 22 in a downward inclination and terminates in spacedrelation to front wall 20, while each succeeding plate is similarlystaggered. Below the bottom baffle plate 36 is a lower chamber 38defined by an end wall 40 and by a porous air stone 42 which functionsas the bottom wall of lower chamber 38. Beneath the air stone 42 is anair chamber 44 into which air under pressure is pumped through conduit46 via pump 48. As will be noted, lower chamber 38 has an exit opening50 in communication with conduit 52 which carries the reconstitutedwater back to aquarium 10, thus completing the cycle.

In operation and use, contaminated water from the aquarium 10 is pumpedthrough conduit 16 by means of pump 18 to the upper end of degassingapparatus 12, whereupon the water engages upper baffle plate 28 andcommences to flow downwardly in the zigzag path illustrated in thedrawing. The arrangement of the baffle plates causes the water to thinout or stretch so as to assume almost a film-like consistency, it havingbeen found in actual practice that the water will thin out to a filmhaving a depth of less than fifteen-thousandths of an inch. Thisthinning out or stretching of the water maximizes the water surface,whereby, when the air with the CO and ammonia in the water in order tore-' constitute the water so that the latter once again assumes itsnatural, fresh state. It will be understood that the constant flow ofpressurized air upwardly through the porous air stone will prevent waterin chamber 38 from seeping downwardly through the stone into air chamber44, but rather the reconstituted water will be caused to flow over theupper edge of end wall 40 through opening 50 to conduit 52 which thenrecycles the reconstituted water back to aquarium 10.

As previously mentioned, the arrangement of the baffle plates has beenfound to be an extremely important feature of the present invention,although obviously the exact number of baffle plates is not critical. Itwill further be understood that as the water reaches the end of eachbaffle plate and cascades downwardly to the next lower plate, awaterfall effect is created which facilitates and enhances subsequentreconstitution of the water. Not only does the degassing apparatus 12remove the gaseous impurities in the water resulting from the fishwaste, but also undesirable air bubbles which may be'created by pump 18and which would be deleterious to fish life are effectively removed.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structureembodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the artthat various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventiveconcept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms hereinshown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A degasser for fish aquariums and the like comprising a housinghaving a front wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls and a bottomwall, a plurality of superimposed baffles in said housing extending fromside wall to side wall, the uppermost baffle starting at the front walland terminating in spaced relation to the rear wall and being inclineddownwardly from front to rear, the next lower baffle starting at therear wall and terminating in spaced relation to the front wall and beingininto the top of said housing, an air chamber located at the bottom ofsaid housing, means for introducing pressurized air into said airchamber, porous means defining the top wall of said air chamber, saidporous means permitting pressurized air from said air chamber to passupwardly therethrough, while at the same time preventing the thinned-outwater flowing thereabove to seep downwardly therethrough, whereby airpassing upwardly through said porous means and coming into contact withthe thinned-out water flowing thereabove will effect the desired gasexchange in said water to reconstitute same, and second means forfeeding said reconstituted water from said housing to its desired pointof use.

2. in the degasserof claim 1, said housing being operatively connectedto a fish aquarium, said first and second feeding means comprisingconduits extending between said housing and said aquarium, whereby waterto be reconstituted flows from said aquarium to said housing and then isrecycled back to said aquarium after being reconstituted.

3. In the degasser of claim I, said porous means comprising a porous airstone.

4. In the degasser of claim 1, said second means comprising an openingin said housing through which said reconstituted water passes, saidopening being located above the top surface of said porous means.

5. A degasser for fish aquariums and the like comprising a housing,means for feeding water to be reconstituted to the upper end of saidhousing, means in said housing causing water to flow downwardlytherethrough in a zigzag path whereby said water is thinnedout, a lowerchamber in said housing receiving said thinned-out water, an air chamberlocated below said lower chamber and separated therefrom by a porous airstone, means for forcing pressurized air upwardly through said air stoneinto contact with the thinned-out water flowing through said lowerchamber to effect a gaseous exchange therewith to reconstitute same, andoutlet means in said lower chamber through which the reconstituted watermay flow to its desired point to use. =i

1. A degasser for fish aquariums and the like comprising a housinghaving a front wall, a rear wall, a pair of side walls and a bottomwall, a plurality of superimposed baffles in said housing extending fromside wall to side wall, the uppermost baffle starting at the front walland terminating in spaced relation to the rear wall and being inclineddownwardly from front to rear, the next lower baffle starting at therear wall and terminating in spaced relation to the front wall and beinginclined downwardly from rear to front, whereby water flowing over saidbaffles will be thinned out and will flow downwardly in a zigzag path,cascading downwardly over the end of each baffle onto the next lowerbaffle, first means for feeding water to be reconstituted into the topof said housing, an air chamber located at the bottom of said housing,means for introducing pressurized air into said air chamber, porousmeans defining the top wall of said air chamber, said porous meanspermitting pressurized air from said air chamber to pass upwardlytherethrough, while at the same time preventing the thinned-out waterflowing thereabove to seep downwardly therethrough, whereby air passingupwardly through said porous means and coming into contact with thethinned-out water flowing thereabove will effect the desired gasexchange in said water to reconstitute same, and second means forfeeding said reconstituted water from said housing to its desired pointof use.
 2. In the degasser of claim 1, said housing being operativelyconnected to a fish aquarium, said first and second feeding meanscomprising conduits extending between said housing and said aquarium,whereby water to be reconstituted flows from said aquarium to saidhousing and then is recycled back to said aquarium after beingreconstituted.
 3. In the degasser of claim 1, said porous meanscomprising a porous air stone.
 4. In the degasser of claim 1, saidsecond means comprising an opening in said housing through which saidreconstituted water passes, said opening being located above the topsurface of said porous means.
 5. A degasser for fish aquariums and thelike comprising a housing, means for feeding water to be reconstitutedto the upper end of said housing, means in said housing causing water toflow downwardly therethrough in a zigzag path whereby said water isthinned-out, a lower chamber in said housing receiving said thinned-outwater, an air chamber located below said lower chamber and separatedtherefrom by a porous air stone, means for forcing pressurized airupwardlY through said air stone into contact with the thinned-out waterflowing through said lower chamber to effect a gaseous exchangetherewith to reconstitute same, and outlet means in said lower chamberthrough which the reconstituted water may flow to its desired point touse.